Midlands entrepreneur targets expansion after £5m funding deal

Midlands entrepreneur Denys Shortt is set to expand his DCS Group still further following a new £5m funding deal.

The UK’s largest distributor of health, beauty and household brands relocated from his base in Warwickshire to a new head office in Banbury in 2017.

Support from Barclays will see a further expansion of the 25-acre site to include 40,000 sq ft of additional warehousing, as well as a 500-pallet storage area for products requiring constant temperature control.

DCS Group, founded by Mr Shortt in 1994, opened its first commercial premises in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2001, before adding a manufacturing plant in 2005. Whilst manufacturing continues at the Stratford-upon-Avon site, the company outgrew the 11-acre site which instigated the move to Banbury.

The group supplies products from the likes of Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Colgate, Johnson & Johnson, PZ Cussons, Reckitt Benkiser and SC Johnson to more than 500 retail chains and wholesalers in the UK.

In 1998, DCS established its own label beauty brand ‘Enliven’ which is today is exported to over 75 countries around the world.

The group aims to become a £300m business in the next five years, creating a further 50 jobs.

Commenting on the latest expansion, Mr Shortt said: “The continued growth of the company has resulted in the need to expand the warehousing at our new head office.

“Barclays approach to working with DCS over the last seven years has been a vital ingredient to the continued success of the company.

“This (expansion) will enable us to continue to offer a first class service to our clients as well as creating a number of warehouse and office jobs.”

Jim Quantrill, Relationship Director at Barclays Corporate Banking, said: “DCS has enjoyed 23 years of successive growth which is testimony to the hard work and vision of Denys and his team. This continued growth is not only great for the company but also the staff and the local area where jobs are being created.”

Pictured from left: Michael Burgess, Director, Barclays Wealth; Jim Quantrill, Relationship Director, Corporate Banking; Michael Lorimer, Group managing director, DCS; Denys Shortt, Chairman and CEO, DCS; Ray O’Donoghue, managing director, Corporate Banking Midlands, Barclays; Johnathan Berry, CFO, DCS; Charles Shortt, Director, DCS.

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